www.aggregateresearch.com - Latest industry news on Aggregates, Asphalt, Cement, Concrete and more. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head up the EPA, Scott Pruitt, has been welcomed by the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.
Oklahoma Attorney General is an outspoken opponent of Obama Administration overregulation, and has filed lawsuits on behalf of the Sooner state against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan and Waters of the US rule.
“Respect for private property rights have allowed our nation to thrive, but with the recently finalized rule, farmers, ranchers, developers, industry, and individual property owners will now be subject to the unpredictable, unsound, and often byzantine regulatory regime of the EPA,” Pruitt said upon filing the lawsuit opposing Wotus.
The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association also filed a lawsuit last year as part of a coalition of organizations and businesses in order to challenge the Wotus rule. A nationwide stay is currently keeping the rule, which radically expanded EPA jurisdiction over what can be considered waters – including the regulation of isolated wetlands and dry stream beds – from being implemented across the country.
The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association “would look forward to working with an EPA administrator that understands the harmful repercussions of EPA’s Wotus rule,” the association says.
“Many areas of previously unregulated land would fall under federal jurisdiction, if the nationwide stay on Wotus is lifted, and require costly federal permitting, correction or mitigation, which in turn will cause increased delays and cost overruns for critical public-works projects.
“It’s not just NSSGA [The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association] and industry groups and Trump’s candidate who say the rule is flawed. In October, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee outlined the flawed process that led administration staff to bypass regulatory protocols in order to create the rule,” the association says.
“This rulemaking demonstrates how an ideological policy agenda can override regulatory safeguards put in place by Congress,” its said in the report.